In 2016, Government e Marketplace (GeM) was launched to redefine public procurement in India. Earlier, public procurement was riddled with issues like transparency, non-standardization of processes and it was time consuming. Hence the Government of India planned to build a transparent and efficient digital platform which connected sellers from all across the country to government buyers.
With the coming in of GeM, Central Ministries, State Governments, PSUs and agencies can access millions of sellers in India. At present, there are over 38 Lakh sellers and service providers registered on GeM. A technology enabled platform like GeM requires no registration or bidding cost, letting buyers register in minutes and then go on exploring the products and services available on the portal. Here are some of the reasons why you should buy / sell on GeM:
- Contactless and Paperless : GEM is a Digital and online platform that is efficient in terms of business that takes place in just a couple of minutes.It has free registration facility wherein every government buyer / seller can access the portal easily. Additionally, there is no paperwork which also saves time. Plus online payments also saves time and makes the entire business procedure easy.
- Large Number of Sellers and Products : There are over 40 lakh sellers on the platform now. In April 2022, they achieved a milestone by crossing total product value worth ₹1 Trillion in a single year. GeM is an ideal platform for small businesses to secure their sales. There is no cost of registrations and product listing for sellers. It also helps enhance transparency, efficiency and speed in public procurement.This helps in realizing our objective of becoming ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’.
- Vast Choices, Easy Selection : With a large variety of products and services available, it is easy to choose as per your requirement. The catalogs available on GeM for all buyers are golden parameter based which help in search, selection and cost optimization. Since there is a vast and rich listing of products and services, you can search and compare on multiple filters like financial, administrative and tech parameters.
- Buyer Seller Incentivization Scheme : GeM has initiated a program aimed to boost the enthusiasm of buyers registered with the portal. It recognizes the largest orders procured by you with recognition on the platform as well as social media through digital certificates.
- Technology Driven Portal : The state of the art portal is designed with the latest in technology and in a completely scalable way on cloud. It is further augmented by technologies like AI, machine learning etc. for advanced use cases. The portal is available 24*7 for transactions by buyers and sellers.
- Value for Money Products on GeM : The average prices of the goods are lowered by 15% which further goes to over 56%. The aggregation of all the goods and services required by the government results in an annual savings of up to Rs. 40,000 crores.
- e-bidding and Delivery Duration : e-bidding on GeM portal aims to enhance efficiency, transparency, and speed in public procurement along with inclusion. It provides the tools of reverse e-auction, e-bidding, and demand aggregation to help the government users/buyers get the best value for their money.As a matter of fact, during the Corona crisis, GeM further reduced the bid and delivery duration period for Covid products like oxygen kits, cylinders, concentrators etc.
- Online Ordering and Transparency : Government e-marketplace has eliminated human interface for GeM Portal Registration, order placement, and payment processing. GeM lets you procure as per your discerned decision and requirement and without any other party involved.
There is 100% transparency also due to the digital verification that happens at all times to buyers and sellers, and the Heads of Departments – who authorize the purchase. So, this eliminates barriers for the vendors who wish to do business with the government of the country. - Integrated Payment System : GeM is proactively implementing several functionalities to ensure that payment cycles are kept as short as possible so that Micro & Small businesses are incentivized to participate in public procurement in large numbers. As part of the payment system, GeM has integrated with Banks (Gem Pool Accounts – GPA) facilitating you as a buyer to process the payment online. Also, GeM has integrated with CPSUs and PSUs, helping them to keep their ERP’s updated with respect to their procurement details done on GeM. All this happens without any human intervention which helps buyers / sellers in a big way.
- Secure and User Friendly Dashboard : Through this GeM portal buyers can easily buy, compare and then select the one.The sellers can list their products according to the requirements of the government. The prices can be changed according to the changing needs and conditions of the market. Sellers can keep a check on the supplies, payments as well as availability of the products. The online platform is absolutely secure and it runs multiple checks. The government verifies, authorizes, and signs documents of the suppliers.
Disclaimer : The above information is shared using information available on the website mygov.in. gem-portal.org have shared this information for information purposes only.